Mitsubishi Corporation Provides Financial Support to India's Swaminathan Research Foundation

Funding to Assist Poor Farming Communities in the State of Andhra Pradesh

TOKYO, Aug 13, 2015 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is pleased to announce its decision to provide financial support to the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in India. The contribution will go towards MSSRF's initiatives aimed at providing support for poor farming communities in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. A ceremony to commemorate the initiative was held on August 13 in the state's capital, Vijayawada, and was attended by Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

This "Smart Village Project" being undertaken by MSSRF is aimed at providing comprehensive support for improving the sanitary and living conditions of about 8,000 people across eight poor farming communities in Andhra Pradesh. One of the primary aims of the Project is to secure urgently needed clean drinking water and install sanitary facilities such as hygienic toilets in the target villages, with the ultimate aim of making them eligible for qualification under India's "Model Village Scheme".

Following a similar MSSRF initiative aimed at improving livelihoods in poor farming communities in the state of Odisha (Orissa) in Eastern India, this is the second such project to receive MC's financial support. MC remains committed to working in close collaboration with MSSRF in an effort to expand initiatives that contribute to the development of poor farming communities in India.

India's "MP Model Village Scheme" was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014. Under the Scheme, members of parliament are required to select at least one village from the constituency they represent and set practical targets for improving its physical and institutional infrastructure in terms of hygiene and livelihoods. The scheme aims to provide comprehensive support for communities as they draw on the lessons learnt from the "model villages" for their own development.

MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)

The MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) was established as a not-for-profit trust in Chennai in May 1988 by Dr. Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, widely known as the Father of India's Green Revolution(1). With its head office at the Center for Research and Agriculture and Rural Development, the aim of MSSRF is to support agricultural development and the improvement of livelihoods in poor farming communities. The Foundation also runs a research center in Jaipur to promote sustainable livelihoods in the Koraput region of southern Odisha, and has completed the establishment of vocational centers in Kalpetta in the state of Kerala to provide training for ethnic minorities, based on financial support from the Japanese government.

Support for Poor Farming Communities in Eastern India

Mitsubishi Corporation has also been working with the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation on a number of projects to support poor farming communities in the state of Odisha (Orissa) in Eastern India. These projects include: the donation of solar-powered street lamps to villages without electricity in the state's Koraput region in fiscal year 2006; the establishment of a human resource development center, also in Koraput, in fiscal year 2007; and an initiative executed between fiscal years 2008 and 2014 comprising a series of short-term programs aimed at increasing economic independence among ethnic minorities in the state. The latter initiative resulted in a 28% increase in household incomes among local farming communities and a 23% increase in livestock farming efficiency, and was the recipient of an Agriculture Leadership Award from India's Center for Agriculture and Rural Development in 2013.

Mitsubishi Corporation's Activities in India

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) engages in a range of business activities in India including trading and investments in the chemicals, living essentials and iron and steel industries. MC also develops business and invests in the automobile and machinery sectors, including elevators, as well as in foods and in agrichemicals and pharmaceuticals. In Andhra Pradesh in particular, MC's trading and investment businesses include Isuzu Motors India (manufacture and sale of Isuzu LCVs), India Metal One Steel Plate Processing (steel plate processing), and Deccan Fine Chemicals (manufacturing services for agrochemical active ingredients and intermediates and fine chemicals). Among its other CSR initiatives, MC also supports the government's Industrial Training Institute, ITI, and contributes to an endowment for Japanese studies at Andhra University.

(1) India's Green Revolution refers to a period in the 1960s during which the introduction of high-yield varieties of wheat and rice and the massive use of chemical fertilizers led to greater productivity food production yields in India.

About Mitsubishi Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates business across virtually every industry including industrial finance, energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, foods, and environmental business. Mitsubishi Corporation's current activities are expanding far beyond its traditional trading operations as its diverse business ranges from natural resources development to investment in retail business, infrastructure, financial products and manufacturing of industrial goods.